South African transport and logistics company Imperial Holdings Ltd has released its financial results for the year ended June 25, 2006, which show profits across the board, including in the forklift sector.

In the report, Imperial said operating profit was up by about one third, to ZAR4.5 billion (USD635 million).

The Imperial Holdings Group has business units in South Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom. They include vehicle and forklift leasing, aviation, motor vehicle imports, and financial services.

The report said despite pricing being under pressure due to the strong rand and price reductions limiting revenue growth to 13 per cent, record forklift sales were achieved.

"The forklift business in South Africa delivered a fine performance."

However, results from UK-based Impact Forklift were "below expectation".

Imperial has been involved with several acquisitions including a controlling interest in MCC Plant Hire and Mining Contracting. The acquisition has increased Imperial's fleet of vehicles and forklifts by 1,039 units to 26,252 units, which it said "represented good growth in market share".

Imperial's leasing and fleet management division leases forklifts and motor vehicles. It is the largest business of its type by value in southern Africa and operates in the public and private sectors, providing light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, forklifts and warehousing handling equipment.

Imperial said it would pursue further fleet management opportunities.

"We expect macro factors, such as higher interest rates and vehicle prices, to create new opportunities for us in fleet management and facilitate margin improvement. We will pursue further opportunities in South Africa and the rest of Africa in other mobility-related industrial, mining and construction equipment."